Atlantean History
Scholars of the surface world know precious little about the true history of Atlantis. There is much speculation and theory, but due to Atlantis’ isolationist nature, the only real thing anybody has to go on boils down to ancient gossip. Even Atlantis itself has little concrete knowledge of their history; they lost much in the Great Deluge, so what survives today has been passed down through Atlantis’ rich oral and musical history. The following is the history of Atlantis as it is known to the Atlanteans themselves and, thus, may be more based in myth than fact. Origins The Atlanteans begins approximately 21,000 years ago. Much like the rest of humanity, they eked out a meager existence in the slave pits of the Titans; specifically, they lived under the brutal rule of Atlas, who dwelled on the island of Atzlant (the name for the continent). When the Olympians challenged the Titans in the war known as Titanomachy, Poseidon battled and defeated Atlas, liberating the humans of Atzlant. This solidified the god of the seas as a patron for them early on. Hyborian Age After the fall of Atlas, the humans settled the rest of the continent, living as semi-nomadic, primitive barbarian tribes. War and conflict in those days was constant. One city in particular known as Valusia, which became the first civilized human city in the known world. It became the center of a civilization of sailors, craftsmen, traders, astrologers, and alchemists. Their vessels reached as far as Antarctica, where they discovered the Lost World, which they named Pangea (meaning “paradise”). It was during this time that Valusia, and all of Atzlant, was set upon by an entity known as the Serpent King; a reptilian creature with a vast army that had already conquered much of what is now Egypt and the Middle-East. The Serpent War, as it was called, was brutal and prolonged and, after many years, seemed a lost cause. However, in an act of desperation, the King of Valusia made a pact with the god Poseidon—he gave his daughter to the sea god to be married, in exchange for magic and technology that could turn the tide. Poseidon accepted the deal, marrying Princess Evenor and granting the people of Atlantis knowledge, and to the king was given the Trident of the Seven Seas. With this new boon, Valusia would ultimately conquer their enemy, slaying the Serpent King and sealing his Dread Crown in the vaults. The Faceless One & the Founding of Atlantis As time passed, the mystics of Valusia continued to develop powerful magic and technology far beyond any other place in the known world. But war and conflict between human factions was still common in those days, and Valusia eventually fell into conflict with the men of Lemuria. In order to achieve victory, the mystics of Valusia unleashed a magic they could not control. It destroyed Lemuria almost entirely and opened the door to another realm. From this Far Realm, aberrations began to flood into the world. These creatures, beyond sanity and made of nightmares, corrupted the earth with their presence, led by the enigmatic and horrific Faceless One. Even the King of Valusia fell to the might of the Faceless One. With the death of the greatest king, the men of Atzlant despaired; there were truly none who could stand against them. It was then, in their darkest hour, that a hero stepped up to save them. Her name was Atlantia, the great-granddaughter of Poseidon and Evenor. Blessed with courage, intellect, and the power of a god, Atlantia began a campaign against the Faceless One, defeating the aberrations time and again. There are many tales of Atlantia and her company, far too many to go into here. But her heroism inspired the people of Atzlant and they united under her. Eventually, Atlantia would venture into the seas to claim the Trident of the Seven Seas from Poseidon himself, who awarded it to her after she proved her courage. Using the power of the Trident, Atlantia drove the Faceless One away and sealed the rift to the Far Realm. In the wake of this, Atlantia was declared the queen of Atzlant. Cities throughout the continent bent the knee. With her wisdom and courage, Atlantia would usher in a new age of prosperity for her people. When it came time to settle, Atlantia chose to settle in Valusia, due to its symbolic status as the birth of their civilization. The remaining royal family bent the knee, turning the castle over the hero queen, and the city was eventually renamed "Atlantis" after the queen. In time, the empire itself would take the same name. The Golden Age Atlantis would go through a golden age for the next several centuries. They would continue to explore and develop new magics and technology. They were seen as the pinnacle of human achievement and the greatest civilization in the known world. Some described it as “the envy of the gods”. Indeed, Atlantean ambition would only burn hotter with every passing generation. They would create doorways to other worlds, manufacture armor and weapons far beyond anything Greece could even imagine, and tamed beasts genetically engineered to be the perfect beasts of burden or beasts of war. The Kraken, in particular, was said to be the greatest and most terrible creation of Atlantis. But the glory of ancient Atlantis would not last forever. The Great Deluge The last years of ancient Atlantis saw it become decadent and over-bloated. The nation was teeming with scheming nobles, weak kings and corrupt priests. The alchemists and wise men had broken many magical laws, stretching their power too far. They would travel to other worlds and bring back highly advanced technology and magic unknown to the rest of the world. By this time, the empire had been in decline for nearly 500 years. The empire was reeling from a civil war and the fighting kept creeping closer to the capitol city. In a gambit to seize the throne, a powerful mystic known now only as The Traitor would release the Faceless One from its prison and offer himself as its avatar in order to claim the throne, unleashing a new host of horrors. To rout their forces, the King of Atlantis opened the magma pits, which were the city's primary means of heating. The invaders were destroyed by the magma, but due to the unprecedented volcanic activity, the magma release triggered a seismological cataclysm unlike any the world had ever seen. First the capitol city, then the rest of the continent, was racked by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. At the same time, the Faceless One would launch a direct attack on the city of Atlantis itself. King Zamuu, in a last-ditch effort, set off a device brought back from another world--something much like a massive nuclear device--to kill the Faceless One. The Faceless One disappeared and his threat once again neutralized. However, as a result of a of the local geological convulsions and the after-effects of the nuclear cataclysm, the entire continent fragmented and vanished beneath the Atlantic Ocean over a period of about one week. Post-Cataclysm While the vast majority of the Atlantean population did not survive the Great Deluge. The only survivors could be found in the capitol city. According to tradition, Poseidon himself saved the people of Atlantis, as their kings were of his blood and had always been faithful. Whatever the truth, the survivors of the Great Deluge would be forever changed. They became adapted to living beneath the waves unaided. More still, Atlantis vanished from our world through some kind of magic that caused it to exist within the Plane of Elemental Water. Atlantean society was tumultuous for some time, with her people splintering once again into nomadic tribes. However, with the efforts of King Orit, the people of Atlantis would again unite. The capitol city was renamed Poseidonopolis to honor the god who saved them from destruction. By all accounts, time flowed no differently for Atlantis in the Plane of Elemental Water than it did on Earth. Return to the Material Plane More than 11,000 years after Atlantis disappeared, it abruptly returned to the Material Plane during The Event. According to the Atlanteans, they felt a strange shift in the seas and experienced a strange, light-headed sensation. Afterward, they noted that the water tasted different and the geography outside of their city was different. Their attempts to contact the other two great cities were unsuccessful. Investigations would continue for more than two months. They would find a very different ocean from the one they were used to. Before long, they would have their first interactions with the surface world; none of them positive. Atlantis witnessed the pollution and violent tendencies of the surface. King Koryak feared the surface world, and grew continually more paranoid about the surface finding them. He and his advisors worked tirelessly to find a way to go “back home”, to no success. In early August of 2006, King Koryak addressed his people. He declared that if Atlantis must remain in this world, the surface world would either destroy them or learn to fear them. Despite pleas by Prince Vashti, Koryak’s younger brother, Atlantis declared war on the surface. Invasion of Atlantis! On August 26, 2006, King Koryak ordered the invasion to begin. They fought using a combination of military strategy, magic, and technologically-advanced generators they used to literally shoot tidal waves at cities. Indeed, in the opening shots of the war, many fishing, trade, and military vessels went missing before being thrown back to the surface, carried by massive tidal waves. As the surface scrambled to recover, Atlantean troops came ashore and launched massive attacks on many surface cities throughout North and South America. Among their many holdings, the Atlanteans held both Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Atlanta, Georgia. Due to its name, King Koryak decided to settle in Atlanta, declaring it “New Atlantis”. King Koryak threatened to Unleash the Kraken should further military action be taken by the surface world. The Guardians, a team of superheroes, responded. For three days, between August 28 and 30, the heroes waged a guerrilla war against Atlantis. Prince Vashti and his Resistance eventually met with them. They pledged to help the Guardians and betray the King, so long as it meant an end to the war. Vashti told them that to defeat the Kraken, then would need to take the King's trident—the Trident of the Seven Seas. On August 30, 2006, the Guardians invaded Atlanta and met King Koryak on the battlefield. True to his word, he summoned the Kraken. The battle was worthy of the legends of old. In the end, a superhero calling himself The Pirate sacrificed himself in a battle against Koryak. The battle distracted Koryak long enough forVashti and Astraea to defeat Koryak and take the trident from him. Koryak was arrested for war crimes and Vashti was crowned King of Atlantis. Vashti declared the war ended and sought to make peace with the surface world. It's been a rocky road, but relations are relatively good today. Modern Atlantis Atlantis is currently in the Fourteenth year of the reign of King Vashti. While they still maintain their isolation from the surface world, Atlantis has started to make an effort to become more involved in global relations. They were officially recognized by the United Nations in 2010. King Vashti is, overall, considered a just ruler and is popular overall. He tends to avoid war, preferring diplomacy and negotiations when possible. However, he is also never one to back down from a threat. King Vashti has assisted the Guardians more than once when they needed his help. During the Imperius War, King Vashti and Atlantis allied with the heroes trying to fight back. Vashti even led a battalion of Atlantean soldiers against Imperius’ generals during the Battle of London. The Atlanteans suffered heavy losses, although most agree that the battle may have been lost if it hadn’t been for King Vashti, who lost his hand during the battle. There is a contingent of people who consider King Vashti a traitor or usurper of the throne. Generally, these are loyalists to the deposed King Koryak. Modern Atlantis is much like the kingdom has always been; proud, strong, and more advanced than many give them credit for. Despite a recent effort to become more involved in the world, the future of Atlantis is still unclear. Many wonder if a relic of the ancient world such as this can ever truly thrive in the modern world.